The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) New Line Cinema/Action-Adventure-Fantasy RT: 251 minutes Rated PG-13 (intense epic battle sequences, frightening images, scary images) Director: Peter Jackson Screenplay: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson Music: Howard Shore Cinematography: Andrew Lesnie Release date: December 17, 2003 (US) Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Liv Tyler, Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, David Wenham, John Noble, Hugo Weaving, Ian Holm, Cate Blanchett, Marton Csokas, Bruce Hopkins, Paul Norell, Lawrence Makoare, Sarah McLeod, Thomas Robins, Sean Bean, Christopher Lee, Brad Dourif, Bruce Spence. Box Office: $377.8 million (US)/$1.1 billion (World)
Rating: ****
When The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King took home 11 Oscars, I suspected the Academy was awarding Peter Jackson for the entire LOTR trilogy and not just the final film. True, it’s the best of the three movies, but not just because it’s the most action-packed and exciting. It also touches the audience’s heart as we say goodbye to a group of friends with whom we’ve been through a lot.
By the time the closing credits roll in The Return of the King, the audience feels as though they’ve been walking alongside our heroes every step of their arduous journey. From his hasty departure from the Shire to the moment he enters Mordor, Frodo has led us on one incredible adventure. All I can say is “WOW!” It’s an overused term perhaps, but it’s perfectly applicable in this situation. This sci-fi/fantasy trilogy is surpassed only by the original Star Wars movies …. come on, it’s Star Wars!
The Return of the King isn’t just the best film in the LOTR trilogy; it’s also tops among all trilogy closers (right under Return of the Jedi, of course). It came out about six weeks after The Matrix Revolutions and talk about a case of night and day. Jackson’s film is a fitting end piece to the saga whereas Revolutions sendss that trilogy out with a whimper instead of a bang. I watched this movie with an underlying sense of sadness knowing that it was the final film of the LOTR trilogy. Let me tell you, I went through a serious case of Tolkien withdrawal the following December. Anyway, it brings the story to a logical and exciting conclusion in addition to affirming the LOTR trilogy as a 21st century masterpiece.
Well, it’s all come down to this, Frodo (Wood) and Sam (Astin) have finally entered Mordor, but their troubles are far from over. Gollum (Serkis) still wants the One Ring and he’s determined to get his dirty hands on it before Frodo can throw it into the fires of Mount Doom. He manages to split up the two friends and then leads Frodo right into the lair of a giant deadly spider named Shelob where he gets stung and paralyzed before getting captured by Orcs.
Meanwhile, the others have gathered at Isengard to witness the brief last stand of Saruman (Lee) and Wormtongue (Dourif). Pippin (Boyd) gets his hands on the evil wizard’s palantir and Gandalf (McKellen) learns that Sauron is planning to attack Minas Tirith. The two of them head off to Gondor to convince Denethor (Noble) to call on Rohan for help. Aragorn (Mortensen), Legolas (Bloom) and Gimli (Rhys-Davies) ask the Army of the Dead for their help in the upcoming battle. Aragorn, the true king of Gondor, learns that his beloved Arwen (Tyler) is dying after choosing not to go to the Undying Lands with the other elves. It all leads up to a super-spectacular battle at Minas Tirith and a subsequent attack on the Black Gate at Mordor. They’re attempting to distract Sauron’s forces long enough to allow Frodo and Sam to make it to Mount Doom undetected.
As usual, I haven’t told you everything, but I couldn’t possibly tell you everything and keep my review at a respectable length at the same time. However, I’m certain that most people already know what happens here. I figure it this way, if you’re reading this review, then you are a LOTR fan and have already seen all three movies more than once. I’m writing my review after my fourth viewing of the extended version.
It would be one thing if The Return of the King had simply ended with the outcome of the battle and the completion of the journey, but it becomes emotional as the members of the Fellowship go their separate ways and the Hobbits return to the Shire. It gets more emotional from there as we learn the fate of a few characters. Some have complained about this prolonged ending, but I think it’s perfectly appropriate in this case. Many times, I didn’t want to see certain movies end, I wanted to find out what happened to the characters next. I’m so glad that Tolkien wrote the story this way and gladder that Jackson retained it for the movie.
This leads to my only complaint about the movie and it’s that Jackson didn’t include the bit about the Hobbits finding the Shire in ruins upon their return due to the presence of a familiar evil figure. I guess that the filmmakers felt it wasn’t important to the plot and in retrospect, it really isn’t. It still would have been cool to see that bit realized on the big screen. When adapting a book, filmmakers often have to leave out a great deal of stuff and there will always be fans who object to the omission of any given part of the book.
Still, the LOTR trilogy reigns supreme as one of the best book-to-screen adaptations in movie history. In my opinion, Middle-earth looks exactly as I imagined it while reading the books. Once again, the source was fresh in my mind as I sat down to watch the midnight preview of The Return of the King. You want to talk about procrastination, I finished reading the book at exactly 11:02pm that night (I checked my watch). Had I put it off just a bit longer, I would have been reading the last few pages right there in the theater.
Anyway, this movie is totally awesome! Set design, creature effects, costumes, production design, makeup …… simply amazing! All of the acting is great. The movie has a good solid screenplay and we even get to learn how Gollum came to be hundreds of years beforehand. The Return of the King definitely deserves its 11 Oscars and Jackson has every right to be proud of his work. The trilogy is a true epic masterpiece!
